Memories Lost and Broken

Artist Statement

Memories Lost and Broken is a series that draws on the fragmented nature of memory, and the feeling of nostalgia that is often associated with a frustration at not being able to clearly grasp a passed moment in its entirety. There are always gaps, blank spaces and shadows in our subconscious that may be irretrievable, and for this reason these photographs are drenched in darkness and the solid, impenetrable black of forgetfulness. The six objects have been selected by each of the six people photographed, as representation of a time or memory personal to them. The viewer may sense a vague familiarity in relating to the objects, but cannot quite access their true meaning or correctly match them to the face to which they belong. In this sense, Memories Lost and Broken also makes a comment on photographic representation. No matter how perfectly a surface may be transcribed by the camera, true understanding of a person's history or an object's personal importance will always drop away into the gap between real and representation. A viewer’s inclination is to invent these unknown histories, and so they too become an active part of the artwork. Perhaps it is best to be satisfied with the beauty in not knowing, and to allow the familiar yet inaccessible sense of nostalgia and Déjà vu wash over you as darkness washes over these fragmented memories.

Fragmentation and Nostalgia

Two photos I have taken for photomedia Project 2 (a and possibly b)
looking at the brokenness of memory, the impossibility of truth in memory, and in photography. Difficulties in language and art to fully capture the essence of a memory or a thought. The assumptions we make of objects' surfaces, of the photographic 'mask'.
I want to test the 'truth' of photographic reality by encouraging the viewer to connect each fragmented portrait with a fragmented memory - which memory belongs to which person? How can we possibly know that?

Memory and Familiarity

These are a selection of stills from the footage I've taken of things that are familiar to me from either my childhood or from mundane repetition/ritual. The footage will be edited fairly simply in final cut pro to overlap and mix together (i will set opacity at about 50%) to create a sort of dreamlike montage of disjointed memories and sensations.

Anna Gaskell

Erasers

Replayground

Rod McNicol

Discovered Rod McNicol's photography after completing Project 1, but the similarities are too obvious to let lie! These two people were suffering terminal illness at the time of the photograph, and died 2 weeks later. They hold a photograph of themselves as children, as my models did for my sequence on generation and age. The composition of the childhood photo has been mimicked in the more recent one.

Angela and Ithyle

 

I found this image by Angela and Ithyle after I'd taken my project 1 photos, but I love the way it plays with depth of field and the fogginess of memory. My photographs have been focused in reverse to this image, on the face in the background with the photograph and hand in front a little blurred, however not as obviously as here. Although I love this photograph, I think such a shallow depth of field would perhaps add another element of obvious 'symbolism' to my portraits which I had not intended. My primary themes are that of age and generation, whereas this technique also brings the authority of the photograph to question, which is not my intent (though i find it fascinating). Another, separate idea for a series could be images like that above, with childhood photographs, but not necesarily shot in the studio or within the same family group. This might make room for new themes about the photographic medium to come through. I love art which is self reflective, which comments on its own medium from within, and find this is very popular in photography and cinematography (for example La Jetee, below).

La Jetée

Watching this famous film in photographic theory, brings up some fascinating theories about photography and cinematography, and the problems in freezing reality, the assumed truth of a photograph, the death of time etc. beautiful imagery and a rich storyline as well.

Project 1

looking at age, change, memory and generation. These are from a shoot with my Grandmother, aged 78, holding a photo of herself, aged 50. I should have reflected light onto her back to pop her forward a little: I will also be doing a similar shoot with my mum and a self-portrait, so I'll keep this in mind for those sessions. I was planning on shooting on a white background but it was a little too crisp, and lacked the nostalgia I was after. The black is much more dramatic and I like the way the subject emerges out of the darkness, like a memory from the past. I like both shots, and will know after photographing my other models (mum, myself) how they work within a series. I think the photo below has a lot of conceptual potential!